LONDON (GC Intelligence) – Polypropylene (PP) prices have found renewed support in November. This is despite some improvements in availability.
While it is still early in the month, some sellers made clear that they want to increase prices from the already high levels. And the proposed increases are in line with the increase in the monomer price.
The monomer propylene contract in November has apparently increased €95/mt from October. And some of the proposed increases for PP in Europe have so far been around this level.
Some of the early offers for PP in November were proposed with an increase of €100/mt. And given that the starting point on these accounts was already high, it is possible that offers could see even higher increases for other customers.
An increase above the the monomer price movement will not be surprising during current market conditions.
Most polymer producers absorbed high costs of energy. And they are now trying to price in some of these increases. In fact, one PP producer in October apparently proposed a surcharge of €50/mt.
The increases above the monomer increase will find resistance, however, especially because prices reached levels relatively high compared to pre-pandemic levels. In addition, availability has increased from the critical shortages seen in the spring.
However, the European PP market at best moved from tight to finely balanced and lead times remain long owing to prolonged logistic issues. Therefore, some accounts could well receive increases higher than the increase in the raw material propylene in November.